World Heritage Identification Number: 398
World Heritage since: 1996
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇮🇹 Italy
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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The Enigmatic Castle of Castel del Monte: A Medieval Masterpiece in Southern Italy
The enigmatic Castle of Castel del Monte, nestled on a hilltop in the Apulia region of southeastern Italy, stands as a testament to the architectural prowess and intellectual curiosity of its builder, King Frederick II (r. 1220-1250). This unique structure, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, offers a fascinating blend of influences from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient, and North European Cistercian Gothic.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
When the Emperor Frederick II built this castle near Bari in the 13th century, he imbued it with symbolic significance, as reflected in the location, the mathematical and astronomical precision of the layout and the perfectly regular shape. A unique piece of medieval military architecture, Castel del Monte is a successful blend of elements from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient and north European Cistercian Gothic.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
The Committee decided to inscribe the nominated property on the basis of cultural criteria (i), (ii) and (iii) considering that the site is of outstanding universal value in its formal perfection and its harmonious blending of cultural elements from northern Europe, the Muslim world, and classical antiquity. Castel del Monte is a unique masterpiece of medieval military architecture, reflecting the humanism of its founder, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen.
Encyclopedia Record: Castel del Monte, Apulia
Castel del Monte is a 13th-century citadel and castle situated on a hill in Andria in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. It was built during the 1240s by King Frederick II, who had inherited the lands from his mother Constance of Sicily. In the 18th century, the castle's interior marbles and remaining furnishings were removed. It has neither a moat nor a drawbridge and some considered it never to have been intended as a defensive fortress. However, archaeological work has suggested that it originally had a curtain wall.Additional Site Details
Area: 3.1 hectares
(ii) — Significant interchange of human values
(iii) — Unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition
Coordinates: 41.08480556 , 16.27094444
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© ParisTaras, CC BY-SA 4.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
